Month: March 2014

Women’s Day 2014: Quick health tips for working women

It is rightly said that behind the success of every man, there is a woman. Gone are the days when a woman was just confined to the home and kitchen. So, if you are working, dear lady, you need to take care of your health too in order to take care of your family. Juggling long working hours and family life, one rarely finds time for themselves. But, complaining is not the solution. It is crucial to maintain a balance between your personal and professional life.

This Women’s Day, we bring to you some quick and easy tips to keep you healthy and rejuvenated.

Try staying active throughout the day like when you are in office, avoid sitting for long hours and instead take a walk in between, or do some desk exercises such as stretching on the chair, twisting etc. in order to relieve stress and exhaustion.

-Enforcing a healthy lifestyle and good eating habits is another major area that you need to take care of. Never try to fill your stomach with junk food when hungry, rather try to snack healthy like having fruits, juices, nuts etc.

-Try drinking a lot of water say at least 7-8 glasses daily as it helps the body to function properly and also prevents dehydration.

-Hangout with friends and try to be happy and leave aside your worries. When you are happy your body releases good hormones called `endorphin` which help in combating stress.

-After weeks of hectic work schedules, you surely deserve a pamper session. So, take time out and go to for a relaxing spa session and manicure, pedicure, facial sittings once a month. Also, do what it takes to give yourself a little `you` time everyday.

So go on ladies make the most of these tips and stay healthy.

Source: Zee news

Omega-3 rich diet helps you sleep soundly: Study

A new study has revealed that higher levels of omega-3 DHA in diet would give better sleep.

The randomized placebo-controlled study by the University of Oxford found that children on a course of daily supplements of omega-3 had nearly one hour more sleep and seven fewer waking episodes per night, as compared with the children taking the corn or soybean placebo.

According to the study, it found that there is possible links between sleep and fatty acid status in healthy children, and that higher blood levels of the long-chain omega-3 DHA are significantly associated with better sleep, including less bedtime resistance, parasomnias and total sleep disturbance.

It was also revealed that higher ratios of DHA in relation to the long-chain omega-6 fatty acid AA (arachidonic acid) are also associated with fewer sleep problems.

Professor Paul Montgomery of Oxford University said that various substances made within the body from omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have long been known to play key roles in the regulation of sleep and lower ratios of DHA have earlier been linked with lower levels of melatonin.

The study is published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Source: business standard

Mobile phone injury – man survives high voltage shock and undergone 8 surgeries

Ravi (name changed), a 23-years-old MBA graduate, shifted to his new residence in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. It was late evening when he received a phone call on his mobile. While talking on mobile, he walked to the rooftop and stood near the parapet. It was dark outside and little did he know that there were high-tension wires passing near the roof carrying 11,000 volts of current.

Suddenly, the magnetic field surrounding the mobile got mixed with the electrical field of the high-tension wires. In a fraction of second, 11,000 volts of high voltage current entered Ravi’s body through the mobile into his ears and exited into the earth through the groin area, as his groin was touching the parapet. The mobile got blasted near his ears and resulted in severe third degree electrical burns involving right side of the face, groin and thigh area — the areas which were in contact with the mobile and the earth.

Ravi became unconscious for 45 minutes, after which he got up on his own. He was unable to remember the events. The patient was initially managed in Gwalior and was later referred to the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on August 3, 2013.

Dr Swaroop Singh Gambhir, Associate Consultant, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “This is the first time in my career that I saw such severe electrical burns due to mobile. When we first saw the patient, he had severe third degree burns on the right side of the face, groin and penile area. The burns were so extensive on the face that the facial bone was burnt. There was severe burn injury to the right eye. In addition to this, he had suffered extensive burns near the groin and thigh. The challenge to us was to salvage whatever tissues were remaining, prevent the infection and reconstruct the damaged structures to as normal as possible. This required multiple surgeries and regular follow up.”

“In last eight months Ravi has undergone ten surgeries. With these surgeries, we have managed to cover the facial bones and give him near normal skin. Along with this, his groin, thighs and penile area have also been reconstructed,” said Dr Gambhir.

The patient is presently admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for his eleventh surgery, which is for reconstruction of eyelid and implant of eyeball. Further, he will require surgeries for eyebrows, eyelashes and beard reconstruction. In about next six months, the patient should be near to normal, according to a statement issued by the hospital on Friday.

“Accidental contact with high voltage electricity may result in severe injury or death. This can occur as a person’s body provides a path for current flow, causing tissue damage and heart failure. Other injuries can include burns from the arc generated by the accidental contact. These burns can be especially dangerous if the victim’s airways are affected. Injuries may also be suffered as a result of the physical forces experienced by people who fall from a great height or are thrown a considerable distance,” added Dr Gambhir.

Source: India Medical Times

 

Top 5 health benefits of mango juice

The king of fruits, Mango not only tastes good that but also offers a number of health benefits for your body. The tropical fruit is sweet in taste and is available in a wide variety. It is widely used in various cuisines like chutney, pickles, amras, lassi etc.

Mango juice contains vitamins and minerals essential for good health.

Here are five health benefits why you should indulge in this juicy fruit:

  • -Mango juice helps reduce the development of cancer cells within the body.
  • -It contains fiber which aids in digestion and elimination of acids.
  • -Mangoes are a rich source Vitamin A and flavonoids which help promote good eyesight and prevents night blindness and dry eyes.
  • -Mango juice helps regulate blood pressure as it contains potassium that assists your muscles, heart and nerves’ functions.
  • -In case of pregnancy, mango juice is very much beneficial to help increase the speed of the child’s physical and mental development as it is low in calories and rich in other essential nutrients.

Source: Zee news

Birth control pills — effectiveness, side-effects and health risks

Contraceptive pills

Every day, over 100 million women all over the world pop an emergency oral contraceptive pill. Oral contraceptive pills are no doubt an effective way to birth control in sexually active married women. But, such widespread use of birth control pills is definitely alarming because most women using them are unaware about its mechanism of action and its safety aspect. In this article, we highlight important aspects about birth control pills that every woman should know.

How does a birth control pill work?

A woman is said to become pregnant when the ovaries release an egg (through reproductive hormonal regulation) that gets fertilised by the male sperm. This fertilised egg then gets attached or implanted to the uterus, where it is nourished over the period of nine months to develop into a baby.

Oral contraceptive pills are designed such that they disrupt the normal hormonal cycle in women and create an artificial hormonal environment that does not allow you to conceive by interfering with contraception and implantation. Most birth control pills that are available today are a combination of oestrogen and progesterone (female reproductive hormones). These pills:

  • Block the release of egg from the ovaries
  • Make the entry of the sperm difficult by thickening the cervical mucus
  • Affect the sperm motility so that it does not reach the egg to fertilise it.

When should you take the pill?

Most birth control pills have clear instructions regarding dosage and use on their leaflet. Some pills are to be taken on specific days of the menstrual cycle. Emergency contraceptive pills are usually required to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. But not all brands of birth control pills can be used for emergency contraception. Further, the number of pills required to be taken in a dose differs for each brand.

What are the side-effects?

Birth control pills can cause minor side-effects which can appear immediately or any time after taking them. Every woman taking birth control pills will experience different side-effects including:

  1. Nausea
  2. Headache
  3. Weight gain
  4. Digestive problems- diarrhoea or constipation
  5. Vomiting
  6. Stomach cramps
  7. Changes in menstrual cycle
  8. Mood changes

These side-effects do not last for a long time. But there are some rare side-effects which need immediate medical attention:

  1. Severe headache
  2. Dizziness
  3. Sever stomach pain
  4. Swelling of hand and feet
  5. Unusual bleeding
  6. Heaviness in the chest
  7. Dark coloured urine
  8. Skin rash
  9. Speech problems
  10. Potential health risks of birth control pills

Several studies have linked the use of birth control pills with increased risk of breast cancer and cervical cancer. A study by Danish researchers suggested that oral contraceptive pills may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in women. The risk is largely dependent on the dose of oestrogen used in the pill. There are several registered cases where women have suffered from blood clotting (deep vein thrombosis) after having a contraceptive pill.

Source: Health India

Pneumonia risk higher in sleep apnea sufferers

People suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, which causes the breathing airway to collapse intermittently during slumber, may be at a higher risk for developing pneumonia, according to a study from Taiwan

The study was published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal after researchers tracked 34,100 people for 11 years, including 6,815 who had sleep apnea.

Researchers excluded patients younger than 20 and those with an existing lung abscess or infection.

They found that 9.36 per cent of those in the sleep apnea group developed pneumonia within five years, compared to 7.77 per cent of subjects without the sleep disorder.

“This study showed that sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for incident pneumonia,” said the researchers, who added that patients with more severe sleep apnea may have a higher risk of pneumonia than patients with sleep apnea of milder severity.

They said disturbances in the immune system, brought on by sleep deprivation that is common to the breathing disorder, may have made subjects in the study more susceptible to the invasion of pathogens that can lead to pneumonia.

An estimated 860,000 Canadians — or three per cent of the population — have been diagnosed as having sleep apnea, and many more may not know they have it.

Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea can be treated with what‘s called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, a machine that prevents the airway from collapsing.

Source: CBC news

New contraceptive ring aims to protect against both pregnancy and HIV

IntraVaginalRingNorthwestern

For decades, the condom has been the only form of contraceptive widely used to prevent both unplanned pregnancies and the transmission of HIV.

Now, researchers at Northwestern University have come up with a new option: An intravaginal ring that helps prevent pregnancy while simultaneously releasing low doses of an antiretroviral drug that reduces a woman’s risk of contracting both HIV and genital herpes.

Patrick Kiser, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern, devised the ring with the hopes that it would offer women more control over both disease and pregnancy prevention.

“The field of HIV prevention is really moving towards these long-acting drug delivery systems that require less user intervention, which is great because sex is episodic and exposure to [HIV] is episodic,” Kiser told FoxNews.com. “And because you don’t know when you’re going to be exposed, or even necessarily when you’re going to have sex, it’s better to…have protective measures on board at all time.”

Kiser and his team at Northwestern spent five years developing the two-inch ring, which releases doses of the contraceptive levonorgestrel and the common antiretroviral HIV medication tenofovir after being inserted in the vagina. Similarly to the NuvaRing, women can insert the device on their own. Women can then leave the ring in for up to 90 days, removing it briefly for cleaning if necessary.

Creating a device capable of releasing the proper doses of both the contraceptive and antiretroviral drugs posed a unique obstacle to researchers.

“The dose of contraceptive is very low – 10 micrograms per day, whereas with the antiviral drug we’re delivering is about 10 milligrams a day,” Kiser said. “That’s a thousand times different in terms of the amount being delivered for each drug and that was a real engineering challenge to develop a device that could achieve those extreme ranges of drug delivery.”

Eventually, they created a ring composed of three types of plastic tubing capable of releasing the appropriate doses of each medication contained within the device.

The medications used in the device both have a proven history of being both safe and effective. Levonorgestrel, which thickens a woman’s cervical mucus to prevent sperm from reaching the uterus, is widely used in popular forms of birth control like Mirena.

Source; Fox news

Malaria ‘spreading to new altitudes’

Malaria (1)

Warmer temperatures are causing malaria to spread to higher altitudes, a study suggests.

Researchers have found that people living in the highlands of Africa and South America are at an increased risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease during hotter years.

They believe that temperature rises in the future could result in millions of additional cases in some areas. The research is published in the journal Science. Prof Mercedes Pascual, from the University of Michigan in the US, who carried out the research, said: “The impact in terms of increasing the risk of exposure to disease is very large.”

Vulnerable to disease

Areas at higher altitudes have traditionally provided a haven from this devastating disease. Both the malaria parasite and the mosquito that carries it struggle to cope with the cooler air.

Prof Pascual said: “The risk of the disease decreases with altitude and this is why historically people have settled in these higher regions.” But the scientists say the disease is entering new regions that had previously been malaria-free.

To investigate, scientists looked at densely populated areas in the highlands of Colombia and Ethiopia, where there are detailed records of both temperature and malaria cases from the 1990s to 2005.

They found that in warmer years, malaria shifted higher into the mountains, while in cooler years it was limited to lower elevations.

“This expansion could in a sense account for a substantial part of the increase of cases we have already observed in these areas,” said Prof Pascual.

The team believes that rising temperatures could cause a further spread.

In Ethiopia, where nearly half of the population live at an altitude of between 1,600m (5,250ft) and 2,400m, the scientists believe there could be many more cases.

“We have estimated that, based on the distribution of malaria with altitude, a 1C rise in temperature could lead to an additional three million cases in under-15-year-olds per year,” said Prof Pascual.

The team believes that because people living in areas that have never been exposed to malaria are particularly vulnerable to the disease, attempts to stop the spread should be focused on areas at the edge of the spread. The disease is easier to control there than at lower altitudes where it has already established.

According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization, there were about 207 million cases of malaria in 2012 and an estimated 627,000 deaths. Most deaths occur among children living in Africa.

Source: BBC news

Daily shower bad for your skin? Try the ‘soak and smear’

The East and the Midwest have been suffering a frigid, seemingly endless winter. The West, mainly California, has been mired in drought. Neither is good for skin.

The cold can keep people indoors in dry heating, while drought is, well, dry.

Combine this weather with the American love of frequent showers and baths and you’ve got a recipe for itchy, parched skin, or aggravated conditionslike dermatitis and eczema. Should we stop showering so much, as suggested by a recent Discovery News story, and embrace our stink?

Not necessarily, say dermatologists. It’s not so much how often you bathe, but how you bathe that matters.

Forget about that all over-sudsing, suggests Dr. Casey Carlos, assistant professor of medicine in the division of dermatology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

“It’s the hardest thing to get people to use soap only where they need it,” Carlos told TODAY.com. Because soap is designed to remove oils from the skin, it’s drying. So Carlos suggests using it in armpits, the groin area, feet — the potentially smelly places —and skipping chest, back, legs, arms.

“People don’t realize that the skin does a pretty good job of cleaning itself,” Carlos said.

Use lukewarm, not hot, water, and keep showers short. (Water authorities in drought areas will thank you.) “Then, as soon as you get out of the shower, moisturize,” Carlos said.

Some research has shown using an emollient body wash can clean and moisturize as well as using an after-shower product. One risk, however, is that in-shower moisturizing can leave the shower or tub as slick as a used pasta plate.

“I used one, and the next time I stepped into the shower, I almost slipped,” Carlos said.

Baths can actually be therapeutic for dry skin sufferers because a soak in lukewarm water helps the skin absorb the moisture. Dermatologists use the phrase “soak and smear.” Soak for 10 or 15 minutes, then smear on moisturizer. That technique can be superior to moisturizing after a shower.

The American Academy of Dermatology says that small children and the elderly need to shower less often (unless, of course, your child has been building the Panama Canal in the backyard, or if they’ve been swimming in a lake, pool, or ocean.) The skin of small children is more delicate and elderly skin is naturally drier.

Many people, Carlos said, think that tight, after-shower feeling is a sign of cleanliness. It’s not. It means your skin is too dry

Source; Today health

 

Xango – a Life-Saving Fruit Drink

Sometime in 2012, Mrs Ireen Sitenge Nyambe travelled to Namibia. Her trip was prompted by her niece’s illness.

According to doctors, Mrs Nyambe’s niece was in the last stages of kidney failure which had crippled her kidneys. In other words, Mrs Nyambe’s niece was dying.

“This patient was really in the last stage because both her kidneys had stopped working. She had been on dialysis from 2011 and now the dialysis could not continue because the veins had collapsed.

“Even the doctors had lost hope. She was about to be taken to South Africa but the doctors said we could not take her because even if we took such a patient it would be meaningless. So we were just waiting for anything,” Mrs Nyambe recounted.

At that time, the patient was swollen as a result of the body accumulating liquids and doctors had advised that she should not take any fluids, including water.

She was restless. She could not hear. She could not eat unaided neither could she be left unattended for fear that she could fall off the hospital bed due to the restlessness.

Mrs Nyambe said her niece barely had days to live, until a stranger came to the private ward where the patient was. The stranger was selling a fruit juice called Xango.

The fruit-drink vendor encouraged Mrs Nyambe to give the juice a try, saying the drink had helped many people recover from their death beds.

True to the words of the stranger, Mrs Nyambe’s niece, who had at the time been retired from her job on medical grounds, recovered and was able to leave the hospital she had been admitted to barely a week after starting to take the fruit juice.

“The doctor, a white man who has been in the profession for a long time said he had never seen a person coming out of such a stage. And even when we were discharged, the same bottle that the patient had started drinking from had not even been emptied yet,” Mrs Nyambe said.

The niece eventually recovered fully and was given back her job by her employers.

Puzzled by the turn of events, Mrs Nyambe who was diabetic and had arthritis, bought a box of the fruit drink and came back to Zambia with it. She was not yet convinced about taking the drink herself. But she had her neighbours in mind. She told herself that if the fruit juice worked on the neighbours, then it really was a baffling wonder.

Source: All Africa